I tell him it is. “Is ...” I glance around the room again. “Is Jonah here?”
Sjharn adjusts the wrap wound around his head as he straightens up. “He is meeting with Zthane in the conference room right now. Do not worry, though. This is the first time he has left your side. I expect him back shortly.”
Those things got my father. They killed him, right before my eyes. What if they got someone else I care about?
“What about Kellan?” I grab his arm before he can move away. “Is he here? What about Cameron and Will Dane?” My mind goes crazy with all the possibilities. “The Lotuses? Cora Mesaverde?” My mother—oh thank gods. My mother is on assignment on the Human plane, in the rainforests of Belize. I pray that she’s far enough in that it would be difficult to track her down.
“Both Whitecombs are meeting with Zthane. As for the Métis you’ve mentioned, neither they, the Lotuses nor Mesaverde’s wife are currently present.”
Cold sweat peppers my brow. I swing my legs over the side, but he stays me with a gentle hand. “Best not to hurry things, Chloe. Your body is healed, but I recommend you to take it slow.”
Screw taking it slow. The shit has officially hit the fan. There is no taking it slow any more. Too many people are dying and it has to stop now.
My feet hit the ground; I wobble, but stay upright. A quick glance shows that I’m in flannel pajamas rather than hospital scrubs.
Thank goodness for small favors.
I ask him to take me to the conference room. His eyes flutter as they roll; an exasperated sigh blows out from between his lips. “Fine. But I want to go on record that I think this is unnecessary.”
Noted and filed under irrelevant.
Minutes later, I enter a small conference room and find Jonah, Kellan, Zthane, Karl, Kopano, and Iolani talking quietly. Jonah’s out of his chair the second he sees me; I gladly sink into his embrace. The hug doesn’t last too long, though; he’s got me at arm’s length as he checks me over. “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
I assure him I’m fine. “Can you feel me this time?”
The anxiety in his eyes softens a shade. “Yeah. I can. I just wanted to make sure.”
As he pulls me into another hug, Kellan catches my attention. He’s sitting on the other side of the table, watching us with too many emotions flitting through the blue of his eyes to pick apart. The bracelet on his wrist strains as he yanks it around and around, and I wish ... I wish I could just go over and also hug him, assure him I’m fine, but it’s too soon.
I think it’ll always be too soon for us.
“Where are we?” I ask Jonah.
He cups my face and kisses me gently before pulling away. “Somewhere safe.”
Somewhere safe turns out to be an underground bunker a half-mile below Annar. Everyone in the room is cagey about the exact location, and I do no push for specifics at the moment because they feel unnecessary. According to Zthane, there are very few people who know of the bunker’s existence outside of select members of the Guard and Council. I whistle as he tells me this—even being first tier didn’t give me prior clearance, which is crazy to consider.
A pen bounces between Zthane’s long fingers as he fills me in on the bare bones of the situation. “Its use over the years has fluctuated, but for right now, it will serve well for our needs.”
I lean forward against the table. “How long are our needs?”
“Long enough to figure out our next steps,” Karl says tiredly. And more guilt finds its way to me, because here he is again, protecting me while sacrificing time with his wife and toddler.
After an emergency summit with a Council Subcommittee that apparently sanctions the Guards’ equivalent of a Witness Protection Agency, a team of ten senior-level Guard, in addition to Jonah and myself, were sent to be stationed in the bunker until everyone can figure out exactly what needs to be done. Kopano has been brought along to constantly monitor the shields surrounding the bunker and its location; I’m to help solidify them on a daily basis. Even the majority of the Guard don’t know where we currently are or that we’re even in protective custody; all they’ve been told is that our collective has been sent out on various missions. Which is bitterly ironic, because inevitably, the same old mission objective emerges: we must always keep the Creator safe.
Just not fathers, I guess.
To my great shame, I don’t quite know how to feel about what’s happened. Sad, yes, and yet numb at the same time. Noel Lilywhite’s genes run through me. He gave me life. And yet ... I didn’t know him. And he never wanted to know me.
I let him die. I didn’t stop Enlilkian from killing him no matter how hard I tried. I am the worlds’ worst daughter.